A THIRD of school pupils in Coventry admit to drinking alcohol at least once each week.

And more than one in 10 girls aged 14 and 15 are boozing to excess - downing more than the recommended adult limit for women (12 units a week).

The picture of a youth drinking culture in the city mirrors national trends. But worry-ingly, the number of youngsters in Coventry hitting the bottle appears to exceed the national average.

The latest report from the Office of National Statistics, looking at figures for 2000, revealed that in any week, 24 per cent of pupils had drunk alcohol. The figures ranged from five per cent in 11-year-olds to 48 per cent of 15-year-olds.

A comparison based on figures for 1999, the latest available, show 35.3 per cent of Coventry schoolkids had consumed alcohol.

Almost half of boys and girls aged 14 and 15 admitted to having had a drink in the past week.

Most children in the city said they had either drunk at home or at a friend's house with almost three quarters of boys and girls aged 12 and 13 saying their parents always know.

This drops to around half admitting parental consent with youngsters aged 14 and

15. In girls aged 14 and 15, some 13.9 per cent were exceeding the advised adult limit of 14 units a week and in boys of the same age 6.4 per cent were going over the male recommended limit of 21 units.

Just over two per cent of 12 and 13 year-olds were exceeding the recommended alcohol limits.

There is no indication alcohol consumption in young people is reducing and alarm-ingly levels of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis in adults are on the increase.